The present disclosure is related to antennas, and more specifically to a multiferroic antenna/sensor.
Conventional antennas, such as dipoles, slots and patches, that receive an electric field or magnetic field of an incident signal and convert it to an output signal must either protrude from the surface to which they are mounted or require a cavity in the surface behind them. Protruding antennas on aircraft increase drag and present anti-icing and other challenges. Antenna cavities on aircraft also add weight (reducing aircraft range/payloads), take up valuable space, result in holes through structural skins of the aircraft that are subject to lightning and fluid penetration, and are costly to integrate into the structure of the aircraft.
Radio frequency (RF) sensors that respond directly to the magnitude of an incident magnetic field, rather than its time derivative, do not have to protrude through the surface nor require a cavity because the magnetic field is not shorted out by proximity to a ground plane and is in fact a maximum at that location. This class of sensors includes super conducting quantum interference devices (SQUID) and giant magneto resistance (GMR) devices. However, antennas based on SQUID devices must be cooled to temperatures close to absolute zero resulting in increased costs, weight, and complexity for flight operations. Further, antennas that use GMR devices are extremely inefficient and have not been proven and require a direct current (DC) bias current.